J P McManus lost his major Champion Hurdle contender last Monday, but five
days later he had found a ready replacement.

The death of Darlan was an incalculable blow, but the emergence of My Tent Or Yours, an easy winner of Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle, was unquestionably exciting.

McManus focuses so intently on Cheltenham that major success elsewhere borders on trivial. And if there is a sale pending, there is only one question: 'Can they win at the Festival?’

It was not the appropriate time to argue the case – McManus’s Like-A-Butterfly had also died days earlier – but My Tent Or Yours, now 2-1 favourite for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, undoubtedly has the potential to challenge Hurricane Fly and company in the Champion Hurdle.

Nicky Henderson and A P McCoy both ducked the issue after the race, but at some stage soon the pros and cons will be discussed with McManus, who spent the weekend defending his title in the annual pro-am golf tournament at Pebble Beach, California.

My Tent Or Yours needs to be supplemented for the Champion Hurdle, but, nevertheless, bookmakers offer 8-1 about him. The price will be slashed if connections take the adventurous option.

McCoy had been drained by Darlan’s fatal fall and admitted it had been a trying week for all concerned. “It has been tough. J P likes nothing better than taking them home when they have finished racing. Like-A-Butterfly had become a family pet.”

The victory was well deserved all round, but My Tent Or Yours looks every inch a chaser in the making and is still learning. On the other hand, he needs a fast pace, and he will surely get that in the Champion Hurdle.

Silviniaco Conti’s win in the Betfair Denman Chase was a more convincing Gold Cup trial than the one put up by Sir Des Champs in the Irish Hennessy, but both will have to raise their games to cope with Bobs Worth in March. Bobs Worth’s stablemate Finian’s Rainbow could also make the line up for the Gold Cup according to owner Michael Buckley. The gelding runs at Ascot on Saturday and if he wins well Buckley is keen to tackle the Gold Cup.